And now, a world free from ugly Microsoft clip art!
One of the happiest pieces of news to cross my email lately is the announcement that Microsoft is doing away with its oh-so-tacky clip art and replacing it with something much better and more useful. It’s a Bing search for images you can use for free, built into Office.
Nobody will confuse Microsoft with a company that much cares about helping customers create a great-looking anything. Especially in applications, Microsoft provides the tools and you’re supposed to provide the creative. That’s cheap for Microsoft, but misses the point that most people aren’t all that creative.
So when Microsoft provides a clip art library, these folks use it like the images came from a great museum. Not realizing that PowerPoint isn’t bad enough to begin with, people use MS clipart that everyone has seen a million times already. That does not contribute to America The Beautiful.
The good — make that excellent news — is that Microsoft is replacing clip art with a Bing search for artwork that is freely usable under a Creative Commons license. This opens up a universe of artwork, complete with an assurance you won’t be sued for using it.
Why this took so long is hard to explain, but in this holiday season, let us be thankful for all the blessings we receive, however belated.
Microsoft is rolling out the update to users of Office 2007 and later. According to the company, “In programs like Word 2013, Outlook 2013 or PowerPoint 2013, Click Insert>Online Pictures to use the Bing Image Search. In Office 2010 and Office 2007 programs, go toInsert>Clip Art and search for pictures in the menu.” More instructions may be found here.
Clip art has not gone away (yet) in the copy of Office that I use, but I’m looking forward to it.
Next on Microsoft’s list — and Apple’s, too — should be templates. Microsoft is known for dowdy templates that don’t improve with new content. Actually, some of them are fine. Mostly.
As a company that is as much about design as technology, Apple is known for its oh-so-gorgeous templates that are hard to make look good with your own words, photos and other elements.
Templates are useful and help the design-challenged, the rushed, the weary businessperson yearning to be free from ugly pages. Microsoft and Apple should do more to help them.
Until that glorious day, getting rid of MS clip art is an excellent start. Soon, maybe our eyes will stop bleeding.
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